Chinese Astrology and Luck
Chinese Astrology often tends to look at the Zodiac in a more global manner. The focus is more on "The Year of the .. " followed by an animal that describes the general nature of the year. Chinese Astrology has been traced back over 5000 years and is very useful when used in conjunction with Western methods. For example, a Scorpio born in the year of the Dragon is usually very different than one born, say, in the year of the Sheep. The Scorpio Dragon is not at all necessarily more of a powerful person (Bill Gates is a Scorpio Sheep), yet everything they do will be somewhat flavored by the Dragon year, they will generally be more fiery, dramatic or flashy.
One way to remember the animal years is with a little rhyme. Use the first letter of each word to remind you what animal rules the year a person was born under. My own one goes, "Run on the road down steep hills so my red dog barks". This correlates to "Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar". You can make up your own. Then all you have to know now is what year you were born under, e.g. Rat (1948, 1960, 1972 etc), and you can work out any person's Chinese year from there. (note that the Cat is sometimes used instead of the Rabbit, and the Goat instead of the Sheep)
You don't really even need to study much about the nature of the year, since the associated animal describes it very well. For example, if someone is born in the year of the Tiger, you can expect them to be a "Tiger like" version of their Sun-sign, and so-on.
Whenever looking into your future using Transit or Progression calculating software, you should be aware of the Chinese year it falls in, and how that year "aspects" your own year of birth.
A general rule of thumb when analysing the Chinese Years is:-
1. If the year is two or four years away from your birth-year, it will usually be a good year for you.
2. If the year is three or six years away, it could be a challenging year.
3. If it is your own animal year (which occurs every 12 years), then there could be an exciting new beginning for you at this time.
Apply these same rules if you want to know the GENERAL (note - your combined planetary aspects affect this considerably) compatibility (synastry) between yourself and another person. If a person is born TWO or FOUR years either side of you (or multiples thereof - not 6 though), and is TWO or FOUR zodiacal signs away from you, then you can pretty much marry this person right away. Your general currents work well with each other and your relationship will be more peaceful.
However, if a person is born three or six years away from you (or multiples thereof), and is three or six signs away from you, then you can expect your relationship to be a testy one with several areas where you will have address issues in order to reach an understanding.
So, to summarize, two or four years away, by multiple, is generally GOOD, and three or six years away, is generally CHALLENGING. Five usually means 'no common meeting ground', and the sign next to can irritate you when pressurized.
It should be stressed at this point that love conquers all, people all over the world are involved in healthy relationships with challenging aspects that they have learnt to overcome, on which they have made some sort of compromise or, indeed, have used to their advantage.
An awareness of your daily transits can greatly aid you if you are interested in maximizing the effects of the planets in your life. Knowing this, you can try harder or speed up when things are going well for you, do more or attempt more. Conversely, you can slow down, or minimise frustration and take more care when the cosmos seems temporarily against you.
Start off by following your daily planetary Transits if you want to use one of the best possible ways to plan for your near future. If you are in a position to choose the date of an event, this is a highly recommended way of short-listing days for anything from writing exams, to planning for romance or a having a wonderful vacation.
